The Month of Elul and Selichot

Level: Basic

Significance: Time of reflection leading up to Rosh Hashanah and Yom KippurCustoms: Blowing the shofar (ram's horn); asking people for forgiveness; reciting penitential prayers

The month of Elul is a time of repentance in
preparation for the High Holidays of Rosh Hashanah
and Yom Kippur. Tradition teaches that the
month of Elul is a particularly propitious time for repentance. This mood of
repentance builds through the month of Elul to the period of
Selichot, to Rosh Hashanah, and finally to Yom Kippur.

The name of the month (spelled
Alef-Lamed-Vav-Lamed) is said to be an acronym
of "Ani l'dodi v'dodi li," "I am my Beloved's and my Beloved is mine," a quote
from Song of Songs 6:3, where the Beloved is G-d and
the "I" is the Jewish people. In Aramaic (the
vernacular of the Jewish people at the time that the month names were adopted),
the word "Elul" means "search," which is appropriate, because this is a time of
year when we search our hearts.

According to tradition, the month of Elul is the time that
Moses spent on Mount Sinai preparing the second
set of tablets after the incident of the golden calf (Ex. 32; 34:27-28). He
ascended on Rosh Chodesh Elul and descended on the 10th of Tishri, at the end
of Yom Kippur, when repentance was complete. Other sources say that Elul is the
beginning of a period of 40 days that Moses prayed for G-d to forgive the
people after the Golden Calf incident, after which the commandment to prepare
the second set of tablets was given.

Customs of Elul

During the month of Elul, from the second day of Elul to the 28th day, the
shofar (a hollowed out ram's horn) is blown after morning services every
weekday. See Rosh Hashanah for more information
about the shofar and its characteristic blasts. The shofar is not blown on
Shabbat. It is also not blown on the day before
Rosh Hashanah to make a clear distinction between the
rabbinical rule of blowing the shofar in Elul
and the biblical mitzvah to blow the shofar on
Rosh Hashanah. Four blasts are blown: tekiah, shevarim-teruah, tekiah. The MIDI
file on the Rosh Hashanah page emulates this
combination of blasts. Rambam explained the
custom of blowing shofar as a wake-up call to sleepers, designed to rouse us
from our complacency. It is a call to repentance. The blast of the shofar is a
very piercing sound when done properly.

Elul is also a time to begin the process of asking forgiveness for wrongs done
to other people. According to Jewish tradition, G-d
cannot forgive us for sins committed against another person until we have first
obtained forgiveness from the person we have wronged. This is not as easy a
task as you might think, if you have never done it. This process of seeking
forgiveness continues through the Days of Awe.

Many people visit cemeteries at this time, because the awe-inspiring nature of
this time makes us think about life and death and our own mortality. In
addition, many people use this time to check their
mezuzot and
tefillin for defects that might render them invalid.

Selichot

As the month of Elul draws to a close, the mood of repentance becomes more
urgent. Prayers for forgiveness called selichot (properly pronounced
"s'lee-KHOHT," but often pronounced "SLI-khus") are added to the daily cycle of
religious services. Selichot are recited in the early morning, before normal
daily shacharit service. They add about 45
minutes to the regular daily service.

Selichot are recited from the Sunday before Rosh
Hashanah until Yom Kippur. If Rosh
Hashanah begins on a Monday or Tuesday, selichot begins on the Sunday of the
week before Rosh Hashanah, to make sure that there are at least 3 days of
Selichot. The first selichot service of the holiday season is usually a large
community service, held around midnight on Motzaei Shabbat (the night after the
sabbath ends; that is, after nightfall on Saturday) . The entire community,
including men, women and older children, attend the service, and the
rabbi gives a sermon. The remaining selichot
services are normally only attended by those who ordinarily attend daily
shacharit services in synagogue.

A fundamental part of the selichot service is the repeated recitation of the
"Thirteen Attributes," a list of G-d's thirteen
attributes of mercy that were revealed to Moses
after the sin of the golden calf (Ex 34:6-7):
Ha-shem [1], Ha-shem [2], G-d [3], merciful [4],
and gracious [5], long-suffering [6], abundant in goodness [7] and truth [8],
keeping mercy unto the thousandth generation [9], forgiving iniquity [10] and
transgression [11] and sin [12], who cleanses [13]. Why is "Ha-shem" listed
twice as an attribute? And why are three of these "attributes"
Names of G-d? Different names of G-d connote
different characteristics of G-d. The four-letter Name of G-d (rendered here as
"Ha-shem") is the Name used when G-d is exhibiting characteristics of mercy,
and the Talmud explains that this dual usage
indicates that G-d is merciful before a person sins, but is also merciful after
a person sins. The third attribute is a different Name of G-d that is used when
G-d acts in His capacity as the almighty ruler of nature and the universe.

List of Dates

The month of Elul will begin on the following days of the secular calendar: